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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Big Time Talent; Juanita LB Darrin Laufasa

March 8, 2012 by Scott Eklund

Darrin Laufasa
6-2 225 RB/LB Juanita HSp

The state of Washington is loaded at the linebacker position in 2013, and one player who is poised to be in the discussion for tops at the position will be Juanita (Kirkland) LB Darrin Laufasa, a 6'1", 225-pounder who is just starting to get back to full health after a foot injury kept him from reaching his full potential last season.

"Darrin broke a bone in his foot and the re-broke it because he came back too soon," Juanita coach Shaun Tarantola told Northwest Elite Index recently. "He played on it the full year, but you could see that he wasn't healthy. He definitely wasn't 100%. This year, we're making sure he's ready to go before he does anything so that we can get the most out of him, and I think that you will see a completely different player this fall."

"I pushed it too hard," Laufasa admitted. "I wanted to get out there and play ball and help my team any way that I could and I came back too fast. This year, I'm taking it slow and making sure it's all good before I go hard again."

As a running back for the Rebels last season, Laufasa totaled over 600 yards and seven touchdowns while also posting 50 tackles from his linebacker spot on defense.

"This year he'll play more defense than anything," Tarantola said. "He can play either fullback or linebacker in college. I'm sure of that. He just needs to find the right situation."

So far, schools have shown tepid interest in Laufasa choosing to make evaluations this spring when they get a look at him back on the field, running and going at it full speed.

"I've been talking with Utah a little and I've been talking to UCLA too," Laufasa noted. "I have been to a lot of Washington's games and I will probably go to Washington State's camp too."

Laufasa, who will get the boot off of his surgically repaired foot this week, has also mentioned he plans to attend some Barton camps in the coming weeks.

"I want to get out there because they have great competition there," Laufasa said. "I had a great time going out there last year and I'll go out this year too. I just have to get back to health and make sure I won't re-injure my foot."

We will have more in the coming weeks as things progress for Laufasa and we will update things as they happen.